I can't understand him. but he is brilliant in some way that I cannot comprehend. plus he claims to grade easily. he has a completely different way of teaching multivariable calc...

Tried to make us guinea pigs for his new, crappy text book. Midterms were only out of 20 pts each, so any little mistake cost you tons of points. Can't speak his way out of a paper bag, but does a good job of confusing his students and ruining the day.

This professor must never be allowed to teach mathematics again. His obsession with math history really detracts from his teaching.

He doesn't get to the important stuff until the end. He goes through proofs from the beginning in every class.

Only take if you are really good at math and already understand things. He cant teach but has easy tests, straight form the book.

Doesn't really teach much at all. Spends time discussing random things with little or no significance. Bi-weekly waste of time. I thought i knew calculus, but his problems are difficult and he never bothers teaching how to do them. Pray for a good GSI and consider attending other professors lectures.

terrible teacher, hard to understand, doesn't teach. If you have a bad GSI, you're screwed. Wodzicki talks a lot about how messed up the textbook is and how much smarter European middle school kids are than us. I came into this class having already taken 2 years of ap calc, and I still don't get A's on the tests. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!

ditto to what calc bc person said below, except i went up to ab in high school and got a 5 on the ab exam. i self studied because i also found going to lecture made concepts i easily understood two years ago completely confusing. i dont know how students without calculus experience can pass this class with him...unless you have a great gsi

Pretty impersonable and really seems to dislike/resent having to teach intro courses. Lectures were confusing and difficult to follow. The material is pretty straight forward, though, and if you read the book, do the homework, and put some effort into seeing GSIs or tutors when you need help, not very difficult at all.

Very difficult to follow in lecture--makes simple points very complicated, + bad accent and handwriting. Widely disliked--a good 3/4 of my section did not attend lectures because he is not understandable! You can teach yourself though, and the tests are not easy but not hard.

Certainly the worst professor I've had a Berkeley. He was a huge disappointment since I used to love math before his class. His lectures are never relevant to what you're learning and class, and he often attempts to teach you stuff from his upper division classes because "math 1A is easy" since he could "do it when he was 5".

Improvise lectures, so spends too much time a theme he finds interesting. It looks like he's temporizing more than anything.

I cannot say enough about how obnoxious this professor is. His lectures are useless. Profoundly arrogant. He goes over time by an hour every lecture because he digresses tremendously. He got so behind that he decided to post 22 pages of new notes without warning on the Saturday before the final. Near-pathological lack of social skills. Avoid.

terrible

Everything he taught in lecture was very conceptual and very hard to follow. The tests were easy, just do homework questions and you need to teach yourself off the book

He's the worst prof I've ever had hands down. His lectures are irrelevant to the material and his homework skips around. The GSI and SLC were my only hope. Not only is he completely incoherent in lecture, but he's known for his remarks about what races and genders are capable of learning math and who isn't. I wish I'd taken it with someone else.

I honestly don't know how to describe how wrong this class is. Whether it is his confusing lecturing style which makes going to lecture a waste of time, his hard tests in which the average was a 1330, or the fact that he he doesn't curve said test because "A C- is a good grade".

Horrible, off-topic lecturer and ridiculously hard tests, then blames the students for being inadequate and saying that a c- is "good"... There's something wrong with tests that have a 1229 average and require 1829 to pass.

Unless you're super crazy about math, already understand the material, and love super abstract crap, just avoid this professor, or take the class at a later time.

His accent makes it almost impossible to understand what he is saying. His lectures do not relate at all to the textbook, and neither do his tests. He is all around terrible. He is condescending toward students and thinks material he is teaching is obvious. This class would be okay with anyone except him.

Please do not ever take a class with this man. His lectures are completely useless -- i ended up just going to Pachter's lectures all year instead. He also blames his students personally for poor lecture attendance and thus our lack of "care of the subject". I don't like him as a person nor a lecturer. I may not make the CS gpa now. I hate this man

By far the worst professor I've had at Berkeley. Lectures actually made me more confused about the material. Blames students for lack of interest despite his poor presentation of material. Failed roughly 30% of students on his second midterm. Any class with him is a GPA killer. Avoid if possible.

He should not be teaching undergraduate classes. He skips over anything that seems 'obvious and crystal clear' to him, which are usually very important topics that might not even be well explained in the book and will then be on tests. He is obviously a brilliant man but he is the worst professor I've ever had. Will ruin your GPA.

Seen it said several times already, but he's the worst professor I've ever had. His lectures are incomprehensible because he 1) explains topics in an incredibly roundabout way, 2) has an extremely thick accent. In addition, homework assignments skip randomly around the book, and tests phrase problems totally differently from the assigned work.

His lectures are completely incomprehensible to anyone but the most enthusiastic math major. The exams are unrelated to most homework concepts, and he expects an in-depth theoretical understanding. One of the few universally-despised professors, and for good reason. One GSI summed it up best- "If it's in the textbook, it's not on the test."

The man might be brilliant for upper divs, but he has absolutely no place teaching lower division math classes. He expects a degree of understanding with material that can be reached by only the most brilliant students. Moreover, his lectures are incomprehensible, accent is thick, and ego is through the roof. Tests relate little to homework.

Math 53 with zworski was nothing compared to what i experienced with wodzicki. I got a B+ in math 53 but in math 54 a C-. Rumor has it that Wodzicki curved the class to a C- too. Thick accent, messy handwriting, and impractical lectures that consist of cryptic theory. Really made me question the benefit of me going to berkeley

The worst professor I have ever taken. In terms of teaching ability, I would rather learn from hellen keller. !!!NOTE!!: I URGE ALL OF YOU TO E-MAIL THE MATH DEPARTMENT ABOUT HIS GRADE SCALE. It is not fair that Pachter's students get a B+ avg for the same class (we got a C- average) If enough student's complain we can bring change.

Basically the hardest to understand professor there is. He may seem nice and all but his extremely thick accent makes everything impossible to understand. Makes simple concepts seem confusing because of his round-about ways of teaching things. Really hard to prepare for the class because his tests don't relate to the textbook. Brilliant guy though.

He makes the easiest math concepts obtuse, confusing, and difficult to understand. No one can understand his thick accent and confusing lectures, which aren't even organized very well.

Wodzicki is one of those guys who's so smart he can't teach lower division. Imagine trying to teach a child that 2+24, obvious to us, a mystery to the child. Same case with Wodzicki. He can't teach, only 15400 people show up to his lectures, 34 of class score under 50%. He's so bad, I'm retaking 54 because I didn't learn with him. AVOID!!!

Worst professor I've had at Berkeley. Do not take Wodzicki. Trust me.

I took this as a junior; he is the worst professor I have ever had. He averaged our class at a C- and failed 13 of the class. His accent is extremely thick, he makes offensive non-PC comments in class, and he is extremely unclear. Going to class doesn't help; 7 people went to lecture at the end. He makes a beautiful subject unenjoyable :( AVOID!!!

Wodzicki wasn't clear during lecture and lectures were not helpful. I took this course in high school before with an amazing teacher and I had an amazing GSI for this course, only reasons why I did fine in the class. Stopped going to lecture after the first midterm, avoid if you don't deal with abstract concepts that well.

Very enthusiastic, but incredibly disorganized. Goes on random tangents in the middle of proofs and then rushes through them at the end of class. Keeps lecturing well after class has ended, and sometimes before class starts. Lectures come after the related homework assignments, so expect to do a lot of self-studying.

I would not have survived this class had it not been for my GSI. Wodzicki was rambling about crazy pHD level math in lectures for a freshman linear algebra course!!! Eventually, lecture attendance dropped down to like 15 people out of hundreds even tho it was not webcast. Avg grade was a C-, as opposed to the other Math54 course (CURVED to a B+).

If you are planning to take MATH113 during this time of remote learning, DO NOT take it with Wodzicki. After the second midterm, only 9 of the original 36 students remained in the class. There was no syllabus, no zoom lectures, no guidance, and about zero accessibility to the professor or GSI. Absolutely the worst professor Ive ever had.

Don't take! Worst professor I've ever had. Lectures and forces you in after class + takes as insult if leave on time. Insulting + full of himself and lectures beyond the course material. Spends more time on PHD math than course. Wasted hours of my time.

Avoid. Dropped the class early and have never regretted it.

No syllabus. No info about when/if there would be midterm until 2 weeks beforehand in mid November. Very harsh, dismissive grader. Doesnt believe in partial credit. Will call your work nonsense/gibberish. Random assortment of concepts mostly unrelated to regular 113. No textbook to refer to. Covered all of what a regular 113 course covers in 1 week

One of the worst humans I've had the displeasure of sharing a classroom with. Please avoid at all costs. No syllabus or grading criteria, assigns grades based on feeling. Lacks basic human empathy, doesn't cover any content relevant to course. Please please please avoid. I wish I listened to RMP

Avoid at all costs! This professor insulted me by making an inappropriate comment about my past academic background.

A scammer, I stayed cause he Claimed there'll be 40% more context than original 114 in his class, he gave no syllabus or grading policy. He spoke meaningless words in class, his book is nothing but so-called algebra in his mind and nothing related to real 114. I don't understand how someone have only 2 Phd students in 30 years can hold his tenure.